


Perspective

by mgburns2



Category: Sleepy Hollow (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-26
Updated: 2013-10-26
Packaged: 2017-12-30 12:04:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1018388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mgburns2/pseuds/mgburns2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ichabod finds some perspective to his situation</p>
            </blockquote>





	Perspective

**Author's Note:**

> This scene takes place during 1:2 Blood Moon when Abbie and Crane are digging through Corbin's files searching for information to help them stop Serilda of Abadon.

“We should split this us,” Abbie suggested. Crane concurred. It was a lot of information to sift through and they were under a deadline.

Abbie gathered an armful of files and journals and set up a workstation at one of the desks while Crane did the same at another. The files were fascinating and the work itself comforting and familiar, reminiscent of his days as a college professor at Oxford. The good sheriff clearly had a talent for research as well as an eye for noticing details others easily missed. Crane looked forward to examining the files in more detail later. Assuming there would be a later. Right now they needed answers on how to stop a witch with a pyrotechnic flare.

The files, although interesting, didn't contain anything of particular use. Moving on to the leather bound journals, he picked the first one and opened it to pursue its content. Folded inside the cover was a piece of paper sealed with wax, an oddity he knew in this day and age. On the outside of the paper written in neat, block letters: 

ICHABOD

His heart stopped for a full beat as he stared at his name in utter disbelief. It seemed impossible the sheriff could have known he would be resurrected, that his fate would be entwined with Miss. Mills’, and that he would find this piece of paper inside his journal. Nevertheless, it was clear from the files that the sheriff believed there was something special about Abbie, and Crane was quickly redefining his definition of the word ‘possible'. Suddenly, nothing seemed inconceivable. 

There was another possibility, a more rational one, which Crane’s mind immediately seized upon. Ichabod was not a name at all, but rather the Hebrew word for inglorious. The document, therefore, could be a reference to the ill-fated child in the Bible who was prematurely born the day the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant and God’s glory left Israel. The idea of "Ichabod", a synonym for desolation or ruin, could easily be applied to Sleepy Hollow’s. The allegory between his name and the fact he had returned to Sleepy Hollow did not escape him.

Crane broke the seal and quickly unfolded the paper. His eyes flew over the sheriff’s easily legible handwriting at first without comprehension. The words didn’t make any sense. That was not entirely true, the words made sense; they just weren’t what he expected. To clear his mind of expectation, he took a deep breath and slowly exhaled until he was focused again. He then reread the prayer, allowing his mind to absorb its full meaning.

God grant me the serenity  
To accept the things I cannot change;  
Courage to change the things I can;  
And wisdom to know the difference.  
Living one day at a time;  
Enjoying one moment at a time;  
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;  
Taking, as He did, this sinful world  
As it is, not as I would have it;  
Trusting that He will make all things right  
If I surrender to His Will;  
That I may be reasonably happy in this life  
And supremely happy with Him  
Forever in the next.  
Amen

“Find something,” Abbie asked hopefully.

“A prayer,” Crane replied, still perplexed that his name had been written on the outside of the document. “God give me the strength to accept the things I cannot change…”

Abbie laughed. “The Serenity Prayer. It was Corbin’s favorite. He’d quote those lines whenever one of us did something stupid or some new departmental bullshit came down the line.” The pleasant memory of her mentor made her smile as she returned her attention to her mound of papers.

Even though the words were already committed to memory, Crane read the prayer once again for the serenity they provided. He had already concluded that belief was sanity in the midst of all this madness and that hard won epiphany brought him peace. This prayer was the next step. It confirmed what he already knew, that he must accept what he cannot change and find the courage to combat the evil that was to come. But in a world where everything baffled him, could he trust himself to be able to tell the difference? 

Crane tri-folded the paper and slipped it in the breast pocket of his coat. He then said a prayer of his own, thanking the good sheriff, wherever he was, for his kind words. He feared he would need them.


End file.
